Barrier with rotation protection

ABSTRACT

A barrier includes a housing and a valve member disposed in the housing. A flow tube within the housing and an actuator disposed in the housing are in operable communication with the flow tube. The flow tube is configured to rotate within other components of the barrier without imparting rotational torque to the actuator or the other components. A method of drilling through a barrier.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 62/143,906, filed Apr. 7, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

In industries where barriers are common and sometimes where other tools are rotated while passing through barriers, such as in downhole industries, there is potential for damage to barriers that then would require repair or replacement at not inconsiderable expense. In view hereof, the relevant arts would be receptive to alternative configurations that reduce or eliminate damage to barriers while rotating other tools therethrough.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

A barrier includes a housing; valve member disposed in the housing; a flow tube within the housing; and an actuator disposed in the housing and in operable communication with the flow tube, the flow tube configured to rotate within other components of the barrier without imparting rotational torque to the actuator or the other components.

A barrier includes a flow tube axially positionable by an actuator of the barrier and rotationally independent of other components of the barrier.

A drilling barrier valve for a downhole operation including a housing; a valve member; a flow tube in operable communication with the valve member; an alignment component rotationally fixed to the housing a spring in operable communication with the flow tube and the housing; isolation components operable to isolate rotational movement of the flow tube from the housing, valve member, and spring.

A method of drilling through a barrier including running a drill string through a barrier having a structure such that a flow tube of the barrier is rotationally independent of other components of the barrier; and decoupling any rotational input imparted to the flow tube from the drill string from other components of the barrier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a barrier in accordance with the teachings hereof;

FIG. 1A is an enlarged section of FIG. 1 to show details of the spring coupling;

FIG. 2 is a view showing the section of a tubular that is represented in FIGS. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the barrier of FIG. 1 with some components rendered translucent to better illustrate some aspects of the barrier.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.

Referring to FIG. 1, it is initially to be appreciated that the view is somewhat unusual in that it illustrates as a 180 section what is actually a 270 degree section. That is, a tubular form is presented on its side and a quarter section is removed therefrom. Then the cross sections through the tubular are presented flat on the page. Please refer to FIG. 2 for a schematic of the section illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 illustrates a barrier 10 that is configured to reduce or eliminate damage to the barrier from rotating members extended therethrough during use in for example a fluid carrying tubular system and in one embodiment a downhole operation. In one embodiment, the barrier includes a valve member that is in the form of a flapper type valve system akin to a subsurface safety valve and having similar components thereto. Included is a housing 12. The housing supports a flapper 14 via a pivot pin 16. A flow tube 18 is positioned to physically interact with the flapper 14 to force it to an open position or allow it to close (based upon impetus from a torsion spring not shown) depending upon an axial position of the flow tube 18 relative to the flapper 14. Driving the flow tube 18 is an actuator that in one embodiment is configured as a piston rod 20 that interacts with a cylinder 22 in the housing 12 (there are generally two diametrically disposed cylinders and piston rods in the barrier though more or fewer could be substituted in particular iterations, sometimes being equally spaced around the 360 degrees of the tubular housing). It will be noted that the two diametrically disposed rods can be seen in FIG. 3 but not in FIG. 1 due to the 90 degree illustration. The cylinder 22 is connected to a hydraulic pressure source that is not shown such as a hydraulic control line as is known to the art. Application of pressure through such control line into the cylinder 22 will cause extension of the piston rod out of the cylinder, which in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, will cause the flow tube 18 to move axially to force the flapper 14 to the open position.

A spring 24, which may be a power spring, is a compression spring that opposes the action of the piston rod 20. The power spring 24 urges the flow tube 18 axially in an opposite direction to that of the piston rod 20 when hydraulic pressure in the cylinder is below a threshold number that can overcome the force of the power spring 24. To aid in description, the power spring 24 has a first end 25 and a second end 27.

In order to achieve the benefit of the invention, the flow tube is configured to be rotationally independent of the other components of the barrier. More specifically, the flow tube is configured to interact with the other components of the barrier through bearings and or bushings that will allow the flow tube to be axially shifted as noted above to do its primary job while also allowing the flow tube to spin in the housing 12 without damaging or applying torque to any of the other components of the barrier. This substantially protects the barrier from rotationally active tools running through the barrier in use. More specifically, and using a drill string D as an example, as the turning drill passes through the barrier 10, it is possible for the drill to become unintentionally engaged with the flow tube 18. In such instance, the flow tube may begin to rotate. In the prior art, such rotation can be damaging to the barrier in that other components of the barrier will be subjected to a torque for which they were not designed and damage thereto may result. This, as noted above could result in repair or replacement of the barrier and hence the incursion of not insubstantial cost. With the benefit of this invention however, the flow tube may so engage the drill string D and be rotated therewith without any negative effect on the barrier.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the piston rod 20 (or two or three rods, etc.) is connected to an actuator coupling 30. The actuator coupling 30 operably interconnects the piston rod 20 with the flow tube 18. The interconnection of the flow tube 18 and the other components of the barrier with which the flow tube 18 may have contact during use is through isolation components that are configured and dimensioned to ensure that rotational input from the flow tube 18 is not transmitted to other components of the barrier. To this end, and in one embodiment, the flow tube 18 and the actuator coupling 30 are connected through bearings or bushings 32 to ensure rotational independence between the flow tube 18 and the actuator coupling 30. The actuator coupling 30 is also pinned by pin 36 to a circumferential groove 38 in a spring coupling 40 so that the two remain together axially but are allowed to rotate if rotational input is imparted to spring coupling 40 through the flow tube 18. Coupling 40 may also contain a bearing 42 that bears against the power spring 24 at the second end 27 of the power spring as shown (see FIG. 1A), or the power spring 24 may communicate on its first end with housing 12 through a bearing 44, or both bearings 42 and 44 may be employed in some embodiments. In each case, the bearings 42 and/or 44 allow rotational input from the flow tube to be decoupled from having any significant effect on the power spring 24 or other components of the barrier. It is to be understood that while spring coupling 40 is not rotationally coupled to flow tube 18, there may be enough friction between flow tube 18 and coupling 40 to cause the coupling 40 to spin if the flow tube 18 begins to spin. Because of a space “S” existing between the actuator coupling 30 and spring coupling 40, the movement of coupling 40 is not likely to transmit sufficiently to the actuator coupling 30 to cause any appreciable amount of torque thereon.

The actuator coupling 30, being isolated from rotational movement of flow tube 18 by bearing 32 is nevertheless fixed in its alignment by an alignment component 50. This prevents movement of the actuator coupling 30 in the rotational direction due to friction in the bearings or bushings 32, 42, and 44 while allowing movement in the axial direction that is necessary for actuation of the barrier. The actuator coupling 30 is so fixed with respect to rotational movement by one or more alignment lugs 52 that interact each with an alignment groove 54 in the alignment component 50 (see FIG. 3). In one embodiment, the alignment lugs and groove will be offset 90 degrees from the piston rods 20 of the embodiment (as shown). The alignment component 50 is rotationally fixed in place by keys 56 that are received in key holes 58 of the housing 12. The alignment component 50 may be incorporated into the housing 12 as a single piece.

The barrier as described herein may be employed in a downhole drilling operation to ensure that the operation may proceed without damage to the barrier through rotational coupling of the flow tube with the drill string. The method for effecting such is to install or have preinstalled the barrier described wherein the structure of the barrier is such that the flow tube is rotationally independent of the other components of the barrier, running a drill string through the barrier so constructed; decoupling any rotational input imparted to the flow tube from the drill string from other components of the barrier.

Set forth below are some embodiments of the foregoing disclosure:

Embodiment 1: A barrier comprising: a housing; valve member disposed in the housing; a flow tube within the housing; and an actuator disposed in the housing and in operable communication with the flow tube, the flow tube configured to rotate within other components of the barrier without imparting rotational torque to the actuator or the other components.

Embodiment 2: The barrier of embodiment 1 further comprising an actuator coupling operatively connected to the flow tube through a bearing or bushing so that the flow tube is rotationally independent of the actuator coupling.

Embodiment 3: The barrier of embodiment 2 wherein the actuator coupling is operatively connected to the actuator.

Embodiment 4: The barrier of embodiment 1 wherein the actuator is a piston rod and cylinder.

Embodiment 5: The barrier of embodiment 1 further comprising a spring, the spring interactive with a bearing or bushing at a first end of the spring, a bearing or bushing at a second end of the spring, or both.

Embodiment 6: The barrier of embodiment 5 further comprising a spring coupling at the second end of the spring.

Embodiment 7: The barrier of embodiment 6 wherein the spring coupling comprises a circumferential groove therein receptive to a pin extending from the actuator such that the spring coupling and actuator remain axially fixed together while rotationally independent.

Embodiment 8: The barrier of embodiment 1 further comprising an alignment component, fixed to the housing and including a groove interactive with a lug attached to the actuator such that the actuator is axially movable and rotationally fixed relative to the alignment component.

Embodiment 9: A barrier comprising: a flow tube axially positionable by an actuator of the barrier and rotationally independent of other components of the barrier.

Embodiment 10: A drilling barrier valve for a downhole operation comprising: a housing; a valve member; a flow tube in operable communication with the valve member; an alignment component rotationally fixed to the housing a spring in operable communication with the flow tube and the housing; isolation components operable to isolate rotational movement of the flow tube from the housing, valve member, and spring.

Embodiment 11: A method of drilling through a barrier comprising: running a drill string through a barrier having a structure such that a flow tube of the barrier is rotationally independent of other components of the barrier; and decoupling any rotational input imparted to the flow tube from the drill string from other components of the barrier.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. Further, it should further be noted that the terms “first,” “second,” and the like herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another. The modifier “about” used in connection with a quantity is inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., it includes the degree of error associated with measurement of the particular quantity).

While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms “first”, “second”, etc., do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms “first”, “second”, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms “a”, “an”, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A barrier comprising: a housing; valve member disposed in the housing; a flow tube within the housing; and an actuator disposed in the housing and in operable communication with the flow tube, the flow tube configured to rotate within other components of the barrier without imparting rotational torque to the actuator or the other components.
 2. The barrier as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an actuator coupling operatively connected to the flow tube through a bearing or bushing so that the flow tube is rotationally independent of the actuator coupling.
 3. The barrier as claimed in claim 2 wherein the actuator coupling is operatively connected to the actuator.
 4. The barrier as claimed in claim 1 wherein the actuator is a piston rod and cylinder.
 5. The barrier as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a spring, the spring interactive with a bearing or bushing at a first end of the spring, a bearing or bushing at a second end of the spring, or both.
 6. The barrier as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a spring coupling at the second end of the spring.
 7. The barrier as claimed in claim 6 wherein the spring coupling comprises a circumferential groove therein receptive to a pin extending from the actuator such that the spring coupling and actuator remain axially fixed together while rotationally independent.
 8. The barrier as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an alignment component, fixed to the housing and including a groove interactive with a lug attached to the actuator such that the actuator is axially movable and rotationally fixed relative to the alignment component.
 9. A barrier comprising: a flow tube axially positionable by an actuator of the barrier and rotationally independent of other components of the barrier.
 10. A drilling barrier valve for a downhole operation comprising: a housing; a valve member; a flow tube in operable communication with the valve member; an alignment component rotationally fixed to the housing a spring in operable communication with the flow tube and the housing; isolation components operable to isolate rotational movement of the flow tube from the housing, valve member, and spring.
 11. A method of drilling through a barrier comprising: running a drill string through a barrier having a structure such that a flow tube of the barrier is rotationally independent of other components of the barrier; and decoupling any rotational input imparted to the flow tube from the drill string from other components of the barrier. 